Methods, apparatuses, and systems for providing timely user cues pertaining to speech recognition

ABSTRACT

A method is provided of providing cues from am electronic communication device to a user while capturing an utterance. A plurality of cues associated with the user utterance are provided by the device to the user in at least near real-time. For each of a plurality of portions of the utterance, data representative of the respective portion of the user utterance is communicated from the electronic communication device to a remote electronic device. In response to this communication, data, representative of at least one parameter associated with the respective portion of the user utterance, is received at the electronic communication device. The electronic communication device provides one or more cues to the user based on the at least parameter. At least one of the cues is provided by the electronic communication device to the user prior to completion of the step of capturing the user utterance.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application is a nonprovisional patent application of, andclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 61/091,330, filed Aug. 22, 2008 and titled“METHODS, APPARATUSES, AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING TIMELY USER CUESPERTAINING TO SPEECH RECOGNITION,” and is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

Additionally, U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No.11/697,074, filed Apr. 5, 2007 and published as U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. US 2007/0239837, is incorporated herein by reference,and each of the following patent applications, and any correspondingpatent application publications thereof, are incorporated herein byreference:

-   (1) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/197,213,    filed Aug. 22, 2008 and titled “CONTINUOUS SPEECH TRANSCRIPTION    PERFORMANCE INDICATION;”-   (2) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/197,227,    filed Aug. 22, 2008 and titled “TRANSCRIBING AND MATCHING MOBILE    DEVICE UTTERANCES TO KEYWORDS TAKEN FROM MOBILE DEVICE MESSAGES AND    ASSOCIATED WITH WEB ADDRESSES;”-   (3) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/198,112,    filed Aug. 25, 2008 and titled “FILTERING TRANSCRIPTIONS OF    UTTERANCES;”-   (4) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/198,116,    filed Aug. 25, 2008 and titled “FACILITATING PRESENTATION BY MOBILE    DEVICE OF ADDITIONAL CONTENT FOR A WORD OR PHRASE UPON UTTERANCE    THEREOF;”-   (5) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/212,644,    filed Sep. 17, 2008 and titled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DYNAMICALLY    UPDATING WEB SERVICE PROFILE INFORMATION BY PARSING TRANSCRIBED    MESSAGE STRINGS;”-   (6) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/212,645,    filed Sep. 17, 2008 and titled “FACILITATING PRESENTATION OF ADS    RELATING TO WORDS OF A MESSAGE;”-   (7) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/344,313,    filed Dec. 26, 2008 and titled “VALIDATION OF MOBILE ADVERTISING    FROM DERIVED INFORMATION;”-   (8) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/355,319,    filed Jan. 16, 2009 and titled “USING A PHYSICAL PHENOMENON DETECTOR    TO CONTROL OPERATION OF A SPEECH RECOGNITION ENGINE;”-   (9) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/400,723,    filed Mar. 9, 2009 and titled “USE OF INTERMEDIATE SPEECH    TRANSCRIPTION RESULTS IN EDITING FINAL SPEECH TRANSCRIPTION    RESULTS;”-   (10) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/407,502,    filed Mar. 19, 2009 and titled “CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK LOOP FOR    AUTOMATED SPEECH RECOGNITION;” and-   (11) U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/415,874,    filed Mar. 31, 2009 and titled “USE OF METADATA TO POST PROCESS    SPEECH RECOGNITION OUTPUT.”

Finally, the disclosure of provisional application 60/789,837 iscontained in Appendix A, attached hereto and, likewise, are incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference and is intended to providebackground and technical information with regard to the systems andenvironments of the inventions of the current patent application.Similarly, the disclosure of the brochure of Appendix B is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyrightprotection under the copyright laws of the United States and of othercountries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimilereproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure,as it appears in the governmental files or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

While listening to spoken words, a human listener often indicates hisquality of understanding through visual and other cues. If the speakeris human and is in the presence of the listener, the speaker oftenrecognizes these cues and adjusts one or more aspects of her speechpatterns accordingly, such as by speaking louder or softer, using betterdiction, speaking more slowly, emphasizing certain words, or the like.By making such adjustments, the speaker hopes to improve the listener'squality of speech recognition, thus improving his overall understandingof what the speaker is saying.

In recent years, however, email, text messaging and other technologieshave become more pervasive, often replacing oral conversations. Suchtechnologies do not provide the recipient with the sorts of cuesdescribed above. However, because, traditionally, the person sending theemail, text message or the like has the ability to review the written(typed) message before transmitting it, the person is able to controlthe content as desired.

More recently, however, Automatic Speech Recognition (“ASR”) systemshave found application with regard to text messaging, which untilrecently involved the input of a text message by a sender who pressesletters and/or numbers associated with the sender's mobile phone. Asrecognized for example in the aforementioned, commonly-assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/697,074, it can be advantageous to maketext messaging far easier for an end user by allowing the user todictate his or her message rather than requiring the user to type itinto his or her phone. In certain circumstances, such as when a user isdriving a vehicle, typing a text message may not be possible and/orconvenient, and may even be unsafe. However, text messages can beadvantageous to a message receiver as compared to voicemail, as thereceiver actually sees the message content in a written format ratherthan having to rely on an auditory signal.

Unfortunately, in at least some ASR systems, inaccurate transcriptionsare commonplace. Thus, in systems in which text messages are sentdirectly to the recipient without review by the sender, inaccuratetranscriptions can create considerable communication errors, oftenwithout the sender being aware of such problems. Moreover, even ifsenders have the ability to review their messages before sending them,they may choose not to do so.

Although methodologies have been developed to provide feedback to theuser (transmitter), today's technologies provide feedback to the userbased only on audio signal quality. That is, the cues to the user arebased on information from the audio capture device. More particularly,user cues are based on measurement of the audio signal. Furthermore,even where existing methodologies provide feedback, in the form ofconfidence levels determined by the system, such feedback is reportedonly after the fact, i.e., after a complete utterance has been convertedto text. The user cannot use such information to adjust the quality ofhis speech until he begins a subsequent utterance.

Thus, a need exists for a system that uses an ASR engine to transcribe auser's utterance for subsequent transmission to one or more recipientsas a text message or the like, but which also provides the user withcues, in a timely fashion, that mimic one or more of those typicallyprovided as feedback by a listener when in the presence of a speaker,thereby permitting the user to adjust the quality of his speech withinthe same utterance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Just as a human listener can indicate quality of understanding throughvisual and other cues to a human speaker, so can a recognition deviceindicate quality of recognition through a variety of cues targeted atthe user. Such cues can improve recognition, thereby helping the userchange his or her behavior and thus improving overall understanding ofthe user's speech. This invention describes a methodology thatinteractively routes ASR quality feedback from the ASR engine to theuser in a timely fashion while the user is speaking, thereby allowingthe user to adjust his or her behavior or environment resulting inimproved speech recognition.

This invention differs from existing methodologies at least in that inaccordance with this invention, user cues can be based, at least inpart, on a level of understanding from the ASR engine. Such user cuescan be based on confidence or other ASR engine statistics rather thanbeing based solely on audio based metrics such as signal quality.

It is believed that recognition may be improved by indicating to a userthe quality of on-going speech recognition at that moment. Thismethodology would route ASR quality feedback from the ASR engine to theuser while the user is speaking (i.e., during the ASR process as opposedto after the ASR process completes), thus allowing the user to adjusthis or her behavior or environment and thereby resulting in improvedspeech recognition.

This methodology differs from existing feedback mechanisms where theaudio capture device uses measurement of the audio signal as a sourcefor user cues. This methodology sends cues from the ASR engine. Suchcues are based on semantics, biometrics, or other ASR engine statisticsrather than signal quality. It's possible also to base the user cues ona combination of metrics, such metrics including but not limited to anaudio signal, a device status, a position, and other similar metrics.

This methodology takes advantage of the “on-the-fly” streaming of voicedata and speech recognition where the stream of audio data is beingrecognized by the ASR engine while the user is yet speaking. Since theASR engine is already in the process of doing ASR it can interactivelystream feedback data and provide cues to the user during the speechacquisition process rather than after the user's utterance is complete.

The nature of the data flowing from the ASR engine and the nature of thecues to the user may vary based one or more of a variety of factors. Forexample, this invention could find application in the context of aclient/server model such as a cell phone on a network. Application couldfurther be made for local ASR devices where ASR occurs in the device,such as a PC or GPS in a car. Further, the nature of user cues may beverbal, auditory (such as beeping noises), graphical (such as anemoticon), vibration, lights, or other cues. The nature of the feedbackdata may vary as well. For example the data may be streamed or sent inthe form of HTTP protocol or messages over a GSM control channel.

The present invention includes many aspects and features. Moreover,while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in, thecontext of interactive user cues, the present invention is not limitedto use only in interactive user cues, as will become apparent from thefollowing summaries and detailed descriptions of aspects, features, andone or more embodiments of the present invention.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention relates to a method ofproviding interactive user cues pertaining to speech recognition. Themethod includes receiving data representing a portion of an utterance ofa user; converting said data representing said portion of said utteranceto transcribed text; determining a metric of said transcribed text; andcausing an indication of said metric to be provided to said user beforesaid user has concluded said utterance.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said metric is aconfidence level.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a visual indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a tactile indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is an auditory indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is an emoticon.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a haptic indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a vibrational indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is optical.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is graphical.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said metric is abiometric.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said metric is an ASRengine statistic.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a method ofproviding interactive user cues pertaining to speech recognition. Themethod includes listening with a microphone to an utterance of a user;transmitting data representing said utterance to a server; receivingdata representing a metric of text transcribed from said utterance; andproviding to said user an indication of said metric before said user hasconcluded said utterance.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said metric is abiometric.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said metric is aconfidence level.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said metric is an ASRengine statistic.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a visual indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a tactile indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is an auditory indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is an emoticon.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a haptic indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is a vibrational indication.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is optical.

In a feature of this aspect of the invention, said indication of saidmetric is graphical.

A third aspect of the present invention relates to a method of providingcues from a device to a user while capturing an utterance. The methodincludes: capturing, by a hand-held mobile communication device, a firstportion of an utterance of a user; communicating, from the hand-heldmobile communication device to a backend server, data representative ofthe first portion of the user utterance; receiving, at the backendserver, the data representative of the first portion of the userutterance; processing, at the backend server, the data representative ofthe first portion of the user utterance, said processing includingdetermining, at the backend server, a metric associated with the firstportion of the user utterance; communicating, from the backend server tothe hand-held mobile communication device, data representative of themetric associated with the first portion of the user utterance; at thehand-held mobile communication device, receiving, from the backendserver, the data representative of the metric associated with the firstportion of the user utterance; providing, by the hand-held mobilecommunication device to the user, a cue based on the received datarepresentative of a metric associated with the first portion of the userutterance; capturing, by the hand-held mobile communication device, asecond portion of the utterance of the user; communicating, from thehand-held mobile communication device to the backend server, datarepresentative of the second portion of the user utterance; receiving,at the backend server, the data representative of the second portion ofthe user utterance; processing, at the backend server, the datarepresentative of the second portion of the user utterance, saidprocessing including determining, at the backend server, a metricassociated with the second portion of the user utterance; communicating,from the backend server to the hand-held mobile communication device,data representative of the metric associated with the second portion ofthe user utterance; at the hand-held mobile communication device,receiving, from the backend server, the data representative of themetric associated with the second portion of the user utterance; andproviding, by the hand-held mobile communication device to the user, acue based on the received data representative of the metric associatedwith the second portion of the user utterance; wherein said step ofproviding, by the hand-held mobile communication device to the user, acue based on the received data representative of a metric associatedwith the first portion of the user utterance, occurs prior to said stepof capturing, by the hand-held mobile communication device, a secondportion of the user utterance.

In a feature of this aspect, the method further includes: capturing, bythe hand-held mobile communication device, a third portion of the userutterance; communicating, from the hand-held mobile communication deviceto the backend server, data representative of the third portion of theuser utterance; receiving, at the backend server, the datarepresentative of the third portion of the user utterance; processing,at the backend server, the data representative of the third portion ofthe user utterance, said processing including determining, at thebackend server, a metric associated with the third portion of the userutterance; communicating, from the backend server to the hand-heldmobile communication device, data representative of the metricassociated with the third portion of the user utterance; at thehand-held mobile communication device, receiving, from the backendserver, the data representative of the metric associated with the thirdportion of the user utterance; and providing, by the hand-held mobilecommunication device to the user, a cue based on the received datarepresentative of the metric associated with the third portion of theuser utterance; wherein said step of providing, by the hand-held mobilecommunication device to the user, a cue based on the received datarepresentative of a metric associated with the second portion of theuser utterance, occurs prior to said step of capturing, by the hand-heldmobile communication device, a third portion of the user utterance.

A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to a method ofproviding cues to a user while capturing an utterance. The methodincludes capturing, by an electronic communication device, an utteranceof a user. The method further includes providing, by the electroniccommunication device to the user in at least near real-time, a pluralityof cues associated with the user utterance, wherein such providing stepincludes, for each portion of a plurality of portions of the utterance:communicating, from the electronic communication device, datarepresentative of the respective portion of the user utterance to aremote electronic device; in response to the communication of datarepresentative of the respective portion of the user utterance,receiving, at the electronic communication device, data representativeof at least one parameter associated with the respective portion of theuser utterance; and providing, by the electronic communication device tothe user, one or more cues based on the at least one parameterassociated with the respective portion of the user utterance. Also inthe method, at least one cue of the plurality of cues is provided by theelectronic communication device to the user prior to completion of thestep of capturing the user utterance.

In a feature of this aspect, said step of communicating, from theelectronic communication device, data representative of each respectiveportion of the user utterance comprises streaming, from the electroniccommunication device, data representative of the utterance.

In another feature of this aspect, said step of receiving, at theelectronic communication device, data representative of at least oneparameter associated with the respective portion of the user utterancecomprises receiving, at the electronic communication device, a tokencomprising data representative of at least one parameter associated withthe respective portion of the user utterance.

In another feature of this aspect, each respective portion consists of aword, each respective portion consists of a syllable, each respectiveportion consists of a phrase, or each respective portion consists of asentence.

In another feature of this aspect, each respective portion comprises aword, each respective portion comprises a syllable, each respectiveportion comprises a phrase, or each respective portion comprises asentence.

In another feature of this aspect, the at least one parameter associatedwith each respective portion of the user utterance comprises at leastone metric associated with each respective portion of the utterance.

In another feature of this aspect, the at least one parameter associatedwith each respective portion of the user utterance comprises aconfidence level corresponding to a transcription result of therespective portion of the utterance.

In another feature of this aspect, the method further includesreceiving, for each respective portion of the plurality of portions, atthe electronic communication device, together with the datarepresentative of at the least one parameter associated with therespective portion of the utterance of the user, data representative ofa transcription result of the respective portion of the utterance of theuser.

In another feature of this aspect, the at least one parameter associatedwith each respective portion of the user utterance comprises a volumelevel of the utterance or a background noise level of the utterance.

In another feature of this aspect, said step of providing, by theelectronic communication device to the user, one or more cues, comprisesdisplaying, via the electronic communication device, a graphical cue. Ina further feature, the graphical cue comprises an emoticon.

In another feature of this aspect, said step of providing, by theelectronic communication device to the user, one or more cues, comprisesoutputting, via the electronic communication device, an auditory cue,verbal cue, or optical cue.

In another feature of this aspect, said step of providing, by theelectronic communication device to the user, one or more cues, comprisesproviding, by the electronic communication device to the user, aplurality of cues, each cue being based on a different parameterassociated with the respective portion of the user utterance.

In another feature of this aspect, said step of providing, by theelectronic communication device to the user, one or more cues, comprisesproviding, by the electronic communication device to the user, acombination cue based on a plurality of parameters associated with therespective portion of the user utterance. In a further feature, thecombination cue is configured to be perceivable as representative atleast two different parameters associated with the respective portion ofthe utterance of the user.

In another feature of this aspect, the method further includesadjusting, by the user, his or her speech pattern based on a providedcue.

A fifth aspect of the present invention relates to a method offacilitating the provision of cues to a user while capturing anutterance of the user, comprising, for each respective portion of aplurality of portions of an utterance of a user captured by a hand-heldmobile communication device. The method includes: receiving, at abackend server, data representative of the respective portion of thecaptured user utterance; transcribing the respective portion of the userutterance into text at the backend server; determining, at the backendserver, a parameter corresponding to the respective portion of the userutterance or corresponding to the text into which the respective portionwas transcribed; and communicating, from the backend server to thehand-held mobile communication device, the parameter corresponding tothe respective portion of the user utterance or corresponding to thetext into which the respective portion was transcribed; wherein saidstep of communicating, from the backend server to the hand-held mobilecommunication device, the parameter corresponding to a first respectiveportion of the utterance or corresponding to the text into which thefirst respective portion was transcribed occurs prior to receiving, atthe backend server, data representative of a second respective portionof the user utterance.

In a feature of this aspect, the method further includes, for eachportion of the plurality of portions, communicating, from the backendserver to the hand-held mobile communication device, data representativeof the text into which the respective portion was transcribed togetherwith the communicated parameter.

In addition to the aforementioned aspects and features of the presentinvention, it should be noted that the present invention furtherencompasses the various possible combinations and subcombinations ofsuch aspects and features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further aspects, features, embodiments, and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionwith reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance withanother preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary implementation of the systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of continuousspeech transcription performance indication in conjunction with aportion of the communication system of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating how feedback data iscommunicated back to the user in an ASR system;

FIG. 6A is a tabular illustration of a first exemplary series ofconfidence level ranges and emoticons corresponding thereto;

FIG. 6B is a tabular illustration of a second exemplary series ofconfidence level ranges and emoticons corresponding thereto;

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first particularimplementation of the methodology of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a second particularimplementation of the methodology of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the system architecture of one commercialimplementation;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a portion of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a typical header section of an HTTP request from the clientin the commercial implementation;

FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a request for alocation of a login server and a subsequent response;

FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a login request and asubsequent response;

FIG. 13 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a submit request anda subsequent response;

FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a results request anda subsequent response;

FIG. 15 illustrates exemplary protocol details for an XML hierarchyreturned in response to a results request;

FIG. 16 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a text to speechrequest and a subsequent response;

FIG. 17 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a correct request;

FIG. 18 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a ping request; and

FIG. 19 illustrates exemplary protocol details for a debug request.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one havingordinary skill in the relevant art (“Ordinary Artisan”) that the presentinvention has broad utility and application. Furthermore, any embodimentdiscussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be partof a best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention.Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrativepurposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure of the presentinvention. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations,modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosedby the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of thepresent invention.

Accordingly, while the present invention is described herein in detailin relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that thisdisclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present invention, andis made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enablingdisclosure of the present invention. The detailed disclosure herein ofone or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, tolimit the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention,which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof.It is not intended that the scope of patent protection afforded thepresent invention be defined by reading into any claim a limitationfound herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself.

Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps ofvarious processes or methods that are described herein are illustrativeand not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, althoughsteps of various processes or methods may be shown and described asbeing in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processesor methods are not limited to being carried out in any particularsequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps insuch processes or methods generally may be carried out in variousdifferent sequences and orders while still falling within the scope ofthe present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope ofpatent protection afforded the present invention is to be defined by theappended claims rather than the description set forth herein.

Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refersto that which the Ordinary Artisan would understand such term to meanbased on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that themeaning of a term used herein—as understood by the Ordinary Artisanbased on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from anyparticular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that themeaning of the term as understood by the Ordinary Artisan shouldprevail.

Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an”each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a pluralityunless the contextual use dictates otherwise. Thus, reference to “apicnic basket having an apple” describes “a picnic basket having atleast one apple” as well as “a picnic basket having apples.” Incontrast, reference to “a picnic basket having a single apple” describes“a picnic basket having only one apple.”

When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one ofthe items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Thus,reference to “a picnic basket having cheese or crackers” describes “apicnic basket having cheese without crackers”, “a picnic basket havingcrackers without cheese”, and “a picnic basket having both cheese andcrackers.” Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and”denotes “all of the items of the list.” Thus, reference to “a picnicbasket having cheese and crackers” describes “a picnic basket havingcheese, wherein the picnic basket further has crackers,” as well asdescribes “a picnic basket having crackers, wherein the picnic basketfurther has cheese.”

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent likecomponents throughout the several views, the preferred embodiments ofthe present invention are next described. The following description ofthe preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in noway intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system 10 in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown therein,the communication system 10 includes at least one transmitting device 12and at least one receiving device 14, one or more network systems 16 forconnecting the transmitting device 12 to the receiving device 14, and anautomatic speech recognition (“ASR”) system 18, including an ASR engine.Transmitting and receiving devices 12,14 may include cell phones 21,smart phones 22, PDAs 23, tablet notebooks 24, various desktop andlaptop computers 25,26,27, and the like, one or more of which may be ahandheld device. At least some of the handheld devices are capable ofcommunications using both voice and data channels, either separately orsimultaneously, and in at least some embodiments, in parallel. One ormore of the devices 12,14, such as the illustrated iMac and laptopcomputers 25,26, may connect to the network systems 16 via a wirelessaccess point 28. The various transmitting and receiving devices 12,14(one or both types of which being sometimes referred to herein as“client devices”) may be of any conventional design and manufacture.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication system 60 in accordancewith another preferred embodiment of the present invention. This system60 is similar to the system 10 of FIG. 1, except that the ASR system 18of FIG. 1 has been omitted and the ASR engine has instead beenincorporated into the various transmitting devices 12, including cellphones 61, smart phones 62, PDAs 63, tablet notebooks 64, variousdesktop and laptop computers 65,66,67, and the like.

It will be appreciated that the illustrations of FIGS. 1 and 2 areintended primarily to provide context in which the inventive features ofthe present invention may be placed. A more complete explanation of oneor more system architectures implementing such systems is providedelsewhere herein, in the incorporated applications and/or in theincorporated Appendices attached hereto. Furthermore, in the context oftext messaging, the communication systems 10,60 each preferablyincludes, inter alia, a telecommunications network. In the context ofinstant messaging, the communications systems 10,60 each preferablyincludes, inter alia, the Internet.

More particularly, and as described, for example, in the aforementionedU.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 2007/0239837, FIG. 3 may beunderstood to be a block diagram of an exemplary implementation of thesystem 10 of FIG. 1. In this implementation, the transmitting device 12is a mobile phone, the ASR system 18 is implemented in one or morebackend servers 160, and the one or more network systems 16 includetransceiver towers 130, one or more mobile communication serviceproviders 140 (operating under joint or independent control) and theinternet 150. The backend server 160 is or may be placed incommunication with the mobile phone 12 via the mobile communicationservice provider 140 and the internet 150. The mobile phone has amicrophone, a speaker and a display.

A first transceiver tower 130A is positioned between the mobile phone 12(or the user 32 of the mobile phone 12) and the mobile communicationservice provider 140, for receiving an audio message (V1), a textmessage (T3) and/or a verified text message (V/T1) from one of themobile phone 12 and the mobile communication service provider 140 andtransmitting it (V2, T4, V/T2) to the other of the mobile phone 12 andthe mobile communication service provider 140. Such communications (V1,T4, V/T1) to and from the mobile phone 12 are preferably carried outusing a data channel, rather than a voice channel, of the mobile phone12. A second transceiver tower 130B is positioned between the mobilecommunication service provider 140 and mobile devices 170, generallydefined as receiving devices 14 equipped to communicate wirelessly viamobile communication service provider 140, for receiving a verified textmessage (V/T3) from the mobile communication service provider 140 andtransmitting it (V5 and T5) to the mobile devices 170. In at least someembodiments, the mobile devices 170 are adapted for receiving a textmessage converted from an audio message created in the mobile phone 12.Additionally, in at least some embodiments, the mobile devices 170 arealso capable of receiving an audio message from the mobile phone 12. Themobile devices 170 include, but are not limited to, a pager, a palm PC,a mobile phone, or the like.

The system 10 also includes software, as disclosed below in more detail,installed in the mobile phone 12 and the backend server 160 for causingthe mobile phone 12 and/or the backend server 160 to perform thefollowing functions. The first step is to initialize the mobile phone 12to establish communication between the mobile phone 12 and the backendserver 160, which includes initializing a desired application from themobile phone 12 and logging into a user account in the backend server160 from the mobile phone 12. Then, the user 32 presses and holds one ofthe buttons of the mobile phone 12 and speaks an utterance 36, thusgenerating an audio message, V1. At this stage, the audio message V1 isrecorded in the mobile phone 12. By releasing the button, the recordedaudio message V1 is sent to the backend server 160 through the mobilecommunication service provider 140.

In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 3,the recorded audio message V1 is first transmitted to the firsttransceiver tower 130A from the mobile phone 12. The first transceivertower 130A outputs the audio message V1 into an audio message V2 thatis, in turn, transmitted to the mobile communication service provider140. Then the mobile communication service provider 140 outputs theaudio message V2 into an audio message V3 and transmits it (V3) to theinternet 150. The internet 150 outputs the audio message V3 into anaudio message V4 and transmits it (V4) to the backend server 160. Thecontent of all the audio messages V1-V4 is identical.

The backend server 160 then converts the audio message V4 into a textmessage, T1, and/or a digital signal, D1, in the backend server 160 bymeans of a speech recognition algorithm including a grammar algorithmand/or a transcription algorithm. The text message T1 and the digitalsignal D1 correspond to two different formats of the audio message V4.The text message T1 and/or the digital signal D1 are sent back to theinternet 150 that outputs them into a text message T2 and a digitalsignal D2, respectively.

The digital signal D2 is transmitted to a digital receiver 180,generally defined as a receiving device 14 equipped to communicate withthe internet and capable of receiving the digital signal D2. In at leastsome embodiments, the digital receiver 180 is adapted for receiving adigital signal converted from an audio message created in the mobilephone 12. Additionally, in at least some embodiments, the digitalreceiver 180 is also capable of receiving an audio message from themobile phone 12. A conventional computer is one example of a digitalreceiver 180. In this context, a digital signal D2 may represent, forexample, an email or instant message.

It should be understood that, depending upon the configuration of thebackend server 160 and software installed on the mobile phone 12, andpotentially based upon the system set up or preferences of the user 32,the digital signal D2 can either be transmitted directly from thebackend server 160 or it can be provided back to the mobile phone 12 forreview and acceptance by the user 32 before it is sent on to the digitalreceiver 180.

The text message T2 is sent to the mobile communication service provider140 that outputs it (T2) into a text message T3. The output text messageT3 is then transmitted to the first transceiver tower 130A. The firsttransceiver tower 130A then transmits it (T3) to the mobile phone 12 inthe form of a text message T4. It is noted that the substantive contentof all the text messages T1-T4 may be identical, which are thecorresponding text form of the audio messages V1-V4.

Upon receiving the text message T4, the user 32 verifies it and sendsthe verified text message V/T1 to the first transceiver tower 130A thatin turn, transmits it to the mobile communication service provider 140in the form of a verified text V/T2. The verified text V/T2 istransmitted to the second transceiver tower 130B in the form of averified text V/T3 from the mobile communication service provider 140.Then, the transceiver tower 130B transmits the verified text V/T3 to themobile devices 170.

In at least one implementation, the audio message is simultaneouslytransmitted to the backend server 160 from the mobile phone 12, when theuser 32 speaks to the mobile phone 12. In this circumstance, it ispreferred that no audio message is recorded in the mobile phone 12,although it is possible that an audio message could be both transmittedand recorded.

Such a system 10 may be utilized to convert an audio message into a textmessage. In at least one implementation, this may be accomplished byfirst initializing a transmitting device so that the transmitting deviceis capable of communicating with a backend server 160. Second, a user 32speaks to or into the client device 12 so as to create a stream of anaudio message. As the user 32 speaks, the streamed audio message issimultaneously transmitted to the backend server 160 through aclient-server communication protocol. Streaming may be accomplishedaccording to processes described elsewhere herein and, in particular, inFIG. 4, and accompanying text, of the aforementioned U.S. PatentApplication Pub. No. US 2007/0239837. The transmitted audio message isconverted into the text message in the backend server 160. The convertedtext message is then sent back to the client device 12. Upon the user'sverification, the converted text message is forwarded to one or morerecipients 34 and their respective receiving devices 14, where theconverted text message may be displayed on the device 14. Incomingmessages may be handled, for example, according to processes describedelsewhere herein and, in particular, in FIG. 2, and accompanying text,of the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 2007/0239837.

Additionally, in at least one implementation, the user may also have theoption be able to alternatively cause the complete audio message to berecorded and then subsequently transmitted to the backend server 160(i.e., without streaming).

Furthermore, in at least one implementation, advertising messages and/oricons may be displayed on one or both types of client device 12,14according to keywords contained in the converted text message, whereinthe keywords are associated with the advertising messages and/or icons.

Still further, in at least one implementation, one or both types ofclient device 12,14 may be located through a global positioning system(GPS); and listing locations, proximate to the position of the clientdevice 12,14, of a target of interest may be presented in the convertedtext message.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating communications between two users32,34 via a portion of the communication system 10 of FIGS. 1 and 3. Asshown therein, a first user 32, sometimes referred to herein as a“transmitting user,” is communicating with a second user 34, sometimesreferred to herein as a “receiving user,” by way of respectivetransmitting and receiving devices 12,14. More particularly, thetransmitting user 32 uses his transmitting device 12 to initiate textmessages that are transmitted to, and received by, the receiving user 34via her receiving device 14. In the context of text messaging, thetransmitting user 32 may send text messages using his transmittingdevice 12, for example via SMS, and the receiving user 34 receives textmessages on his receiving device 14, in this case also via SMS. In thecontext of instant messaging, the transmitting user 32 may send instantmessages via an IM client using his transmitting device 12, andparticularly using a data channel of the transmitting device 12, and thereceiving user 34 receives instant messages on his receiving device 14,via an IM client, particularly using a data channel of the receivingdevice 14.

In either case, the transmitting user 32 preferably speaks into histransmitting device 12 with his utterances being converted to text forcommunicating to the receiving device 14, all as more fully describedherein. More particularly, the first user 32 speaks an utterance 36 intothe transmitting device 12, and the recorded speech audio is sent to theASR system 18, preferably using a data channel of the device 12, asdescribed previously. In the example of FIG. 4, the utterance 36 is “HiMom, I uhhh,” with the utterance then trailing off and becominginaudible, although speech is ongoing and sound is still being captured.The ASR engine in the ASR system 18 attempts to recognize and transcribethe utterance 36 into text. Speech recognition requests received by theASR engine may be handled, for example, according to processes describedelsewhere herein and, in particular, in FIG. 3, and accompanying text,of the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 2007/0239837.Further, speech recognition may be carried out, for example, accordingto processes described elsewhere herein and, in particular, in FIGS.6A-6H, and accompanying text, of the aforementioned U.S. PatentApplication Pub. No. US 2007/0239837.

It will be appreciated that automated transcription of recordedutterances 36 is useful in other environments and applications as well.For example, in another system (not separately illustrated), a userspeaks an utterance 36 into a device as a voicemail, and the recordedspeech audio is sent to the ASR system 18. Other applications to whichthe teachings of the present invention are applicable will be apparentto the Ordinary Artisan.

Assuming the audio message is being simultaneously transmitted(streamed) to the backend server 160 for processing, the ASR engine isable to carry out its conversion process almost immediately.Furthermore, as part of this process, the ASR engine or another elementof the backend server 160 is able calculate a confidence level. Furtherinformation regarding this process is described in commonly-assignedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/197,213, filed Aug. 22, 2008 andentitled “CONTINUOUS SPEECH TRANSCRIPTION PERFORMANCE INDICATION.” Alsoas described therein, other parameters, including but not limited tovolume and background noise, are likewise determined or gatheredsimultaneously as well.

As the parameters are calculated, they may be provided as an output inreal time, or near-real time, to a user. More particularly, they may belogically associated with the transcribed text on a word-by-word basis,a syllable-by-syllable basis, a phrase-by-phrase basis, asentence-by-sentence basis, or the like and returned to the userimmediately thereafter. Furthermore, the confidence level or otherparameters may be conveyed to the user in any of a variety of ways, asfurther described below.

FIG. 5 is a exemplary sequence diagram illustrating the interactionbetween the ASR system 18 and the transmitting device 12. As showntherein, the interaction begins with a beginning of a streamed utterance36 being transmitted from the device 12 to the ASR system 18. As the ASRengine in the ASR system 18 processes the utterance 36, it returnstokens 52 semi-regularly to the device 12 according to a predeterminedbasis (word-by-word, a syllable-by-syllable, a phrase-by-phrase, asentence-by-sentence, or the like). The client 42 on the device 12receives each token 52 and extracts, derives or determines one or moreparticular parameters therefrom. In the illustrated example, theparticular parameter is the confidence level, calculated or determinedby the ASR engine, for the transcription results that were reached. Insome embodiments, both the parameters and the correspondingtranscription element are returned, while in other embodiments, only theparameters are returned. In at least one embodiment, the user isprovided with the ability to select whether transcription results arereturned with the parameters or not.

As the parameters are extracted, derived or determined by the client 42,they are passed to another portion of the device software, which in atleast one embodiment is a haptics user interface (“haptics UI”)component 44. This software element preferably controls one or moreother user interface elements 46 to provide the user 32 with one or moreindications of the parameter or parameters being used to cue the user32. In the illustrated example, the haptics UI 44 controls a displayunit, as a UI messenger 46, to display an emoticon 56 whoseappearance/selection may be understood, preferably intuitively, by theuser 32 as corresponding to a particular confidence level value orrange. FIGS. 6A and 6B are tabular illustrations of two exemplary seriesof confidence level ranges and the emoticons corresponding thereto, withthe second series currently being preferred. Alternatively oradditionally, however, the user cues may be verbal, auditory (such asbeeping noises), graphical (of which the emoticons are an example),vibratory, optical (such as lights), or the like. Although certain typesof cues may be more useful than others, the type of cue is not critical.It is more important that the cues be provided in real time or near-realtime in order to accomplish the purposes herein.

The described process continues until the end of the utterance 36, witheach token 52 being passed back to the device 12 and interpreted andutilized to provide the user 12 with an appropriate cue as to thequality of the transcription process. As these cues are perceived andunderstood by the user 12, preferably intuitively, the user 12 isbelieved to be better able to adjust his speech pattern accordingly inan attempt to improve the quality of the transcription.

Although not specifically illustrated, it will be appreciated that theuser 12 may be simultaneously provided with cues representative of morethan one parameter. Such cues may be separately presented and perceived,or may be unified but perceivable as representative of separateparameters.

It will be appreciated that the nature of the feedback data streamingfrom the ASR engine to the user client software 42 may vary withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. This data may betokens 52 streamed to a user client 42 through a variety of means. Thetoken stream may take various forms to accommodate for optimization ordifferent communication paths. For example, the data may be compressed,encrypted or clear. The data may be sent via HTTP protocol, through SMSmessages to the user's phone, through c++ style calls, or through remoteprocedure calls. The data itself may be tokens derived from confidencescores, biometrics, silence detection, or other algorithms orheuristics. Such feedback may be mixed with other current state of theart information such as signal quality.

It will also be appreciated that the nature of the communication pathmay vary. For example, the data may be communicated through socketinterfaces, http interfaces, through circuit switched interfaces, orthrough GSM control channels. It may be possible to send SMS messages tothe client application on a cell phone while the client uses HTTP tostream voice data to the ASR. In other situations it may be possible tostore feedback data on in a shared memory queue between the ASR and theclient. Fundamentally, sharing such feedback is part of this inventionregardless of the format of the data or the way the data is sent to theclient software.

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first particularimplementation of the methodology of the present invention. Inparticular, as described previously, the utterance 36 begins to trailoff, causing a poor quality transcription. As a result, using theexemplary process illustrated in FIG. 5 and described in accompanyingtext, the haptics UI interactively presents an emoticon in real-time tothe user via the device 12. In this example, the ASR is part of a GSMnetwork where feedback data is communicated via a control channel to thehandset. A possible disadvantage of such an implementation is that itwould require modification of the protocol stack and portions of thecellular infrastructure, thereby requiring significant cooperation witha carrier or use of a base station simulator. As a result, it may bemore advantageous for the feedback data to be communicated over the IPinterface via GPRS. FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram illustrating thelatter implementation of the methodology of the present invention.

Commercial Implementation

One commercial implementation of the foregoing principles utilizes theYap® and Yap9™ service (collectively, “the Yap service”), available fromYap Inc. of Charlotte, N.C. The Yap service includes one or more webapplications and a client device application. The Yap web application isa J2EE application built using Java 5. It is designed to be deployed onan application server like IBM WebSphere Application Server or anequivalent J2EE application server. It is designed to be platformneutral, meaning the server hardware and OS can be anything supported bythe web application server (e.g. Windows, Linux, MacOS X).

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the system architecture of the Yapcommercial implementation. With reference to FIG. 8, the operatingsystem may be implemented in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL 5); theapplication servers may include the WebSphere Application ServerCommunity Edition (WAS-CE) servers, available from IBM; the web servermay be an Apache server; the CTTS Servlets may include CTTS servletsfrom Loquendo, including US/UK/ES male and US/UK/ES female; the GrammarASP may be the latest WebSphere Voice Server, available from IBM;suitable third party ads may be provided by Google; a suitable thirdparty IM system is Google Talk, available from Google; and a suitabledatabase system is the DB2 Express relational database system, availablefrom IBM.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the Yap EAR of FIG. 8. The audio codec JARsmay include the VoiceAge AMR JAR, available from VoiceAge of Montreal,Quebec and/or the QCELP JAR, available from Qualcomm of San Diego,Calif.

The Yap web application includes a plurality of servlets. As usedherein, the term “servlet” refers to an object that receives a requestand generates a response based on the request. Usually, a servlet is asmall Java program that runs within a Web server. Servlets receive andrespond to requests from Web clients, usually across HTTP and/or HTTPS,the HyperText Transfer Protocol. Currently, the Yap web applicationincludes nine servlets: Correct, Debug, Install, Login, Notify, Ping,Results, Submit, and TTS. Each servlet is described below in the ordertypically encountered.

The communication protocol used for all messages between the Yap clientand Yap server applications is HTTP and HTTPS. Using these standard webprotocols allows the Yap web application to fit well in a webapplication container. From the application server's point of view, itcannot distinguish between the Yap client midlet and a typical webbrowser. This aspect of the design is intentional to convince the webapplication server that the Yap client midlet is actually a web browser.This allows a user to use features of the J2EE web programming modellike session management and HTTPS security. It is also an importantfeature of the client as the MIDP specification requires that clientsare allowed to communicate over HTTP.

More specifically, the Yap client uses the POST method and customheaders to pass values to the server. The body of the HTTP message inmost cases is irrelevant with the exception of when the client submitsaudio data to the server in which case the body contains the binaryaudio data. The Server responds with an HTTP code indicating the successor failure of the request and data in the body which corresponds to therequest being made. Preferably, the server does not depend on customheader messages being delivered to the client as the carriers can, andusually do, strip out unknown header values. FIG. 10 is a typical headersection of an HTTP request from the Yap client.

The Yap client is operated via a user interface (UI), known as “Yap9,”which is well suited for implementing methods of converting an audiomessage into a text message and messaging in mobile environments. Yap9is a combined UI for SMS and web services (WS) that makes use of thebuttons or keys of the client device by assigning a function to eachbutton (sometimes referred to as a “Yap9” button or key). Execution ofsuch functions is carried out by “Yaplets.” This process, and the usageof such buttons, are described elsewhere herein and, in particular, inFIGS. 9A-9D, and accompanying text, of the aforementioned U.S. PatentApplication Pub. No. US 2007/0239837.

Usage Process—Install: Installation of the Yap client device applicationis described in the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US2007/0239837 in a subsection titled “Install Process” of a sectiontitled “System Architecture.”

Usage Process—Notify: When a Yap client is installed, the install fails,or the install is canceled by the user, the Notify servlet is sent amessage by the phone with a short description. This can be used fortracking purposes and to help diagnose any install problems.

Usage Process—Login: When the Yap midlet is opened, the first step is tocreate a new session by logging into the Yap web application using theLogin servlet. Preferably, however, multiple login servers exist, so asa preliminary step, a request is sent to find a server to log in to.Exemplary protocol details for such a request can be seen in FIG. 11. AnHTTP string pointing to a selected login server will be returned inresponse to this request. It will be appreciated that this selectionprocess functions as a poor man's load balancer.

After receiving this response, a login request is sent. Exemplaryprotocol details for such a request can be seen in FIG. 12. A cookieholding a session ID is returned in response to this request. Thesession ID is a pointer to a session object on the server which holdsthe state of the session. This session data will be discarded after aperiod determined by server policy.

Sessions are typically maintained using client-side cookies, however, auser cannot rely on the set-cookie header successfully returning to theYap client because the carrier may remove that header from the HTTPresponse. The solution to this problem is to use the technique of URLrewriting. To do this, the session ID is extracted from the session API,which is returned to the client in the body of the response. This iscalled the “Yap Cookie” and is used in every subsequent request from theclient. The Yap Cookie looks like this:

;jsessionid=C240B217F2351E3C420A599B0878371A

All requests from the client simply append this cookie to the end ofeach request and the session is maintained:

/Yap/Submit;jsessionid=C240B217F2351E3C420A599B0878371A

Usage Process—Submit: After receiving a session ID, audio data may besubmitted. The user presses and holds one of the Yap-9 buttons, speaksaloud, and releases the pressed button. The speech is recorded, and therecorded speech is then sent in the body of a request to the Submitservlet, which returns a unique receipt that the client can use later toidentify this utterance. Exemplary protocol details for such a requestcan be seen in FIG. 13.

One of the header values sent to the server during the login process isthe format in which the device records. That value is stored in thesession so the Submit servlet knows how to convert the audio into aformat required by the ASR engine. This is done in a separate thread asthe process can take some time to complete.

The Yap9 button and Yap9 screen numbers are passed to the Submit serverin the HTTP request header. These values are used to lookup auser-defined preference of what each button is assigned to. For example,the 1 button may be used to transcribe audio for an SMS message, whilethe 2 button is designated for a grammar based recognition to be used ina web services location based search. The Submit servlet determines theappropriate “Yaplet” to use. When the engine has finished transcribingthe audio or matching it against a grammar, the results are stored in ahash table in the session.

In the case of transcribed audio for an SMS text message, a number offilters can be applied to the text returned from the ASR engine. Suchfilters may include, but are not limited to, those shown Table 3.

TABLE 3 Filter Type Function Ad Filter Used to scan the text andidentify keywords that can be used to insert targeted advertisingmessages, and/or convert the keywords into hyperlinks to ad sponsoredweb pages Currency Used to format currency returned from the speechFilter engine into the user's preferred format. (e.g., “one hundredtwenty dollars” −> “$120.00”) Date Filter Used to format dates returnedfrom the speech engine into the user's preferred format. (e.g., “marchfourth two thousand seven” −> “3/4/2007”) Digit Filter User to formatspelled out single digits returned from the speech engine into amulti-digit number such as a zip code (e.g., “two eight two one one” −>“28211”) Engine Used to remove speech engine words Filter Number Used toconvert the spelled out numbers returned Filter from the speech engineinto a digit based number (e.g., “one hundred forty seven” −> “147”)Obscenity Used to place asterisks in for the vowels in Filter streetslang (e.g., “sh*t”, “f*ck”, etc.) Punctuation Used to formatpunctuation Filter SMS Filter Used to convert regular words into aspelling which more closely resembles an SMS message (e.g., “don'tforget to smile” −> “don't 4get 2 :)”, etc.) Time Filter Used to formattime phrasesNotably, after all of the filters are applied, both the filtered textand original text are returned to the client so that if text to speechis enabled for the user, the original unfiltered text can be used togenerate the TTS audio.

Usage Process—Results: The client retrieves the results of the audio bytaking the receipt returned from the Submit servlet and submitting it asa request to the Results servlet. Exemplary protocol details for such arequest can be seen in FIG. 14. This is done in a separate thread on thedevice and a timeout parameter may be specified which will cause therequest to return after a certain amount of time if the results are notavailable. In response to the request, a block of XML is preferablyreturned. Exemplary protocol details for such a return response can beseen in FIG. 15. Alternatively, a serialized Java Results object may bereturned. This object contains a number of getter functions for theclient to extract the type of results screen to advance to (i.e., SMS orresults list), the text to display, the text to be used for TTS, anyadvertising text to be displayed, an SMS trailer to append to the SMSmessage, etc.

Usage Process—TTS: The user may choose to have the results read back viaText to Speech. This can be an option the user could disable to savenetwork bandwidth, but adds value when in a situation where looking atthe screen is not desirable, like when driving. If TTS is used, the TTSstring is extracted from the results and sent via an HTTP request to theTTS servlet. Exemplary protocol details for such a request can be seenin FIG. 16. The request blocks until the TTS is generated and returnsaudio in the format supported by the phone in the body of the result.This is performed in a separate thread on the device since thetransaction may take some time to complete. The resulting audio is thenplayed to the user through the AudioService object on the client.Preferably, TTS speech from the server is encrypted using CorrectedBlock Tiny Encryption Algorithm (XXTEA) encryption.

Usage Process—Correct: As a means of tracking accuracy and improvingfuture SMS based language models, if the user makes a correction totranscribed text on the phone via the key elements of the key input unit74 before sending the message, the corrected text is submitted to theCorrect servlet along with the receipt for the request. This informationis stored on the server for later use in analyzing accuracy andcompiling a database of typical SMS messages. Exemplary protocol detailsfor such a submission can be seen in FIG. 17.

Usage Process—Ping: Typically, web sessions will timeout after a certainamount of inactivity. The Ping servlet can be used to send a quickmessage from the client to keep the session alive. Exemplary protocoldetails for such a message can be seen in FIG. 18.

Usage Process—Debug: Used mainly for development purposes, the Debugservlet sends logging messages from the client to a debug log on theserver. Exemplary protocol details can be seen in FIG. 19.

Usage Process—Logout: To logout from the Yap server, an HTTP logoutrequest needs to be issued to the server. An exemplary such requestwould take the form: “/Yap/Logout;jsessionid=1234”, where 1234 is thesession ID.

User Preferences: In at least one embodiment, the Yap website has asection where the user can log in and customize their Yap clientpreferences. This allows them to choose from available Yaplets andassign them to Yap9 keys on their phone. The user preferences are storedand maintained on the server and accessible from the Yap webapplication. This frees the Yap client from having to know about all ofthe different back-end Yaplets. It just records the audio, submits it tothe server along with the Yap9 key and Yap9 screen used for therecording and waits for the results. The server handles all of thedetails of what the user actually wants to have happen with the audio.

The client needs to know what type of format to utilize when presentingthe results to the user. This is accomplished through a code in theResults object. The majority of requests fall into one of twocategories: sending an SMS message, or displaying the results of a webservices query in a list format. Notably, although these two are themost common, the Yap architecture supports the addition of new formats.

Based on the foregoing description, it will be readily understood bythose persons skilled in the art that the present invention issusceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments andadaptations of the present invention other than those specificallydescribed herein, as well as many variations, modifications, andequivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggestedby the present invention and the foregoing descriptions thereof, withoutdeparting from the substance or scope of the present invention.

Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein indetail in relation to one or more preferred embodiments, it is to beunderstood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary ofthe present invention and is made merely for the purpose of providing afull and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosureis not intended to be construed to limit the present invention orotherwise exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations,modifications or equivalent arrangements, the present invention beinglimited only by the claims appended hereto and the equivalents thereof.

1. A system for providing cues from a device to a user while capturingan utterance, the system comprising: a backend server; and a hand-heldmobile communication device in communication with the backend serverover a network, the hand-held communication device configured to:capture a first portion of a user utterance; and communicate to thebackend server, data representative of the first portion of the userutterance; the backend server being configured to: receive the datarepresentative of the first portion of the user utterance; process thedata representative of the first portion of the user utterance, saidprocessing including determining a metric associated with the firstportion of the user utterance; and communicate to the hand-held mobilecommunication device, data representative of the metric associated withthe first portion of the user utterance; the hand-held mobilecommunication device being further configured to: receive from thebackend server, the data representative of the metric associated withthe first portion of the user utterance; provide to the user, a cuebased at least in part on the received data representative of a metricassociated with the first portion of the user utterance; capture asecond portion of the user utterance; and communicate to the backendserver, data representative of the second portion of the user utterance;the backend server being further configured to: receive the datarepresentative of the second portion of the user utterance; process thedata representative of the second portion of the user utterance, saidprocessing including determining a metric associated with the secondportion of the user utterance; and communicate to the hand-held mobilecommunication device, data representative of the metric associated withthe second portion of the user utterance; the hand-held mobilecommunication device being further configured to: receive from thebackend server, the data representative of the metric associated withthe second portion of the user utterance; and provide to the user, a cuebased on the received data representative of the metric associated withthe second portion of the user utterance; wherein said providing to theuser, a cue based at least in part on the received data representativeof a metric associated with the first portion of the user utterance,occurs prior to said capturing, by the hand-held mobile communicationdevice, a second portion of the user utterance.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein: the hand-held mobile communication device is furtherconfigured to: capture a third portion of the user utterance; andcommunicate to the backend server, data representative of the thirdportion of the user utterance; the backend server is further configuredto: receive the data representative of the third portion of the userutterance; process the data representative of the third portion of theuser utterance, said processing including determining a metricassociated with the third portion of the user utterance; and communicateto the hand-held mobile communication device, data representative of themetric associated with the third portion of the user utterance; and thehand-held mobile communication device is further configured to: receivefrom the backend server, the data representative of the metricassociated with the third portion of the user utterance; and provide tothe user, a cue based at least in part on the received datarepresentative of the metric associated with the third portion of theuser utterance; wherein said providing to the user, a cue based at leastin part on the received data representative of a metric associated withthe second portion of the user utterance, occurs prior to saidcapturing, by the hand-held mobile communication device, a third portionof the user utterance.
 3. A computer-implemented method of providingcues to a user while capturing an utterance, the computer-implementedmethod comprising: capturing, by an electronic communication device, auser utterance; and providing, by the electronic communication device tothe user in at least near real-time, one or more cues associated withthe user utterance, wherein said providing includes, for each portion ofa plurality of portions of the user utterance: communicating, from theelectronic communication device, data representative of the respectiveportion of the user utterance to a remote electronic device, in responseto the communication of data representative of the respective portion ofthe user utterance, receiving, at the electronic communication device,data representative of at least one parameter associated with therespective portion of the user utterance, and providing, by theelectronic communication device to the user, at least one cue based atleast in part on the at least one parameter associated with therespective portion of the user utterance; wherein at least one cue ofthe one or more cues is provided by the electronic communication deviceto the user prior to completion of capturing the user utterance.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein said communicating, fromthe electronic communication device, data representative of eachrespective portion of the user utterance comprises streaming, from theelectronic communication device, data representative of the userutterance.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein saidreceiving, at the electronic communication device, data representativeof at least one parameter associated with the respective portion of theuser utterance comprises receiving, at the electronic communicationdevice, a token comprising data representative of at least one parameterassociated with the respective portion of the user utterance.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein each respective portionof the user utterance consists of a word, each respective portion of theuser utterance consists of a syllable, each respective portion of theuser utterance consists of a phrase, or each respective portion of theuser utterance consists of a sentence.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3, wherein each respective portion of the user utterancecomprises a word, each respective portion of the user utterancecomprises a syllable, each respective portion of the user utterancecomprises a phrase, or each respective portion of the user utterancecomprises a sentence.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,wherein the at least one parameter associated with each respectiveportion of the user utterance comprises at least one metric associatedwith each respective portion of the user utterance.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the at least oneparameter associated with each respective portion of the user utterancecomprises a confidence level corresponding to a transcription result ofthe respective portion of the user utterance.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising receiving,for each respective portion of the plurality of portions, at theelectronic communication device, together with the data representativeof at the least one parameter associated with the respective portion ofthe user utterance, data representative of a transcription result of therespective portion of the user utterance.
 11. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3, wherein the at least one parameter associated witheach respective portion of the user utterance comprises a volume levelof the utterance or a background noise level of the user utterance. 12.The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein said providing, bythe electronic communication device to the user, at least one cue,comprises displaying, via the electronic communication device, agraphical cue.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, whereinthe graphical cue comprises an emoticon.
 14. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3, wherein said providing, by the electroniccommunication device to the user, at least one cue, comprisesoutputting, via the electronic communication device, an auditory cue,verbal cue, or optical cue.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim3, wherein said providing, by the electronic communication device to theuser, at least one cue, comprises providing, by the electroniccommunication device to the user, a plurality of cues, each cue beingbased at least in part on a different parameter associated with therespective portion of the user utterance.
 16. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3, wherein said providing, by the electroniccommunication device to the user, at least one cue, comprises providing,by the electronic communication device to the user, a combination cuebased at least in part on a plurality of parameters associated with therespective portion of the user utterance.
 17. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 16, wherein the combination cue is configured to beperceivable as representative of at least two different parametersassociated with the respective portion of the user utterance.
 18. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising adjusting, bythe user, his or her speech pattern based at least in part on at leastone provided cue.
 19. A system for providing cues to a user whilecapturing an utterance, the system comprising: a local computing device,the local computing device configured to: capture a user utterance;provide to the user in at least near real-time one or more cuesassociated with the user utterance, wherein said providing includes, foreach portion of a plurality of portions of the user utterance:transmitting, to a remote computing device over a network, datarepresentative of the respective portion of the user utterance;receiving, from the remote computing device, data representative of atleast one parameter associated with the respective portion of the userutterance; and providing to the user at least one cue based at least inpart on the at least one parameter associated with the respectiveportion of the user utterance; wherein at least one cue of the one ormore cues is provided to the user prior to completion of capturing theuser utterance; and a data storage device in communication with thelocal computing device, the data storage device configured to store datarepresentative of one or more parameters received from the remotecomputing device.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein each respectiveportion of the user utterance comprises at least one of a syllable, aword, a phrase, or a sentence.
 21. The system of claim 19, wherein theat least one parameter associated with each respective portion of theuser utterance comprises a confidence level corresponding to atranscription result of the respective portion of the user utterance.22. The system of claim 19, wherein, for each respective portion of theplurality of portions of the user utterance, the local computing deviceis further configured to receive from the remote computing device,together with the data representative of the at least one parameterassociated with the respective portion of the user utterance, datarepresentative of a transcription result of the respective portion ofthe user utterance.
 23. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least oneparameter associated with each respective portion of the user utterancecomprises at least one of a one of a volume level of the respectiveportion of the user utterance or a background noise level of therespective portion of the user utterance.
 24. The system of claim 19,wherein the provided at least one cue comprises at least one of agraphical cue, an optical cue, a verbal cue, or an auditory cue.
 25. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-executablecomponent for providing cues to a user while capturing an utterance, thecomputer-executable component comprising: a cue-providing componentconfigured to: cause an electronic communication device to capture auser utterance; and cause the electronic communication device to provideto the user in at least near real-time one or more cues associated withthe user utterance, wherein said providing includes, for each portion ofa plurality of portions of the user utterance: causing the electroniccommunication device to communicate data representative of therespective portion of the user utterance to a remote electronic device;in response to the communication of data representative of therespective portion of the user utterance, causing the electroniccommunication device to receive data representative of at least oneparameter associated with the respective portion of the user utterance;and causing the electronic communication device to provide at least onecue based at least in part on the at least one parameter associated withthe respective portion of the user utterance; wherein the electroniccommunication device is caused to provide at least one cue of the one ormore cues prior to completion of capturing the user utterance.
 26. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein eachrespective portion of the user utterance comprises at least one of asyllable, a word, a phrase, or a sentence.
 27. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the at least one parameterassociated with each respective portion of the user utterance comprisesa confidence level corresponding to a transcription result of therespective portion of the user utterance.
 28. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the cue-providingcomponent is further configured to cause the electronic communicationdevice to receive, together with the data representative of the at leastone parameter associated with the respective portion of the userutterance, data representative of a transcription result of therespective portion of the user utterance.
 29. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the at least one parameterassociated with each respective portion of the user utterance comprisesat least one of a volume level of the respective portion of the userutterance or a background noise level of the respective portion of theuser utterance.
 30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim25, wherein the provided at least one cue comprises at least one of agraphical cue, an optical cue, a verbal cue, or an auditory cue.